1. Dribble in the middle of the court responding to different directions from the coach (e.g. change speed, direction, reverse walking, change hands, etc.).
  2. “Dribble Tag” – 3 or 4 players are designated as taggers. They must dribble around the court, chasing other players and try to “tag” them. Proceed for a set amount of time to determine how many tags they get or have players that are tagged stand still and they can only move again if another player runs between their legs. Proceed to all players dribbling!
  3. “Dribble Tag – Lines” – same as dribble tag, however players can only run on marked lines on the court. This works best where a number of different sports are marked on the court.
  4. “Dribble Gang” – similar to Dribble Tag, however when a player is tagged they join in trying to tag others.
  5. Dribble with two balls, on the spot and then on the move.
  6. “Statue Game”: Each player has a ball and they dribble in the middle of the court and on the coach’s signal must stop (those who do not stop lose a point). The coach can designate whether players use a jump stop (one count) or stride stop (two count). Players that use the wrong stop also lose a point.
  7. “Dribble lines”. Players dribble following the lines of the court, and when they meet another child they must change hand, reverse, change direction.
  8. “The Jack-Hammer Game”. One player is designated the leader and dribbles imitating a jack-hammer (dribbling high, low, slowly, fast). Other players copy.
  9. “Car Game”. Each player has a ball and start in either the keyway or the centre circle. As the coach yells instructions, the players dribble:
    1. “Start your engine” – dribble standing still;
    2. “1st Gear” – walk and dribble
    3. “2nd Gear“– jog and dribble
    4. “Top Gear” – sprint and dribble
    5. “Reverse” – dribble backwards
    6. “Red Light” – stop and continue dribbling
    7. “Green Light” – start moving and dribbling
    8. “Right” / “Left” – change direction (and change hands)
    9. “Pit Stop” – sprint dribble to their starting location.
  10. “Tail Game”. Each child has a ribbon tucked into the back of their shorts, with enough of a “tail” so that it could be grabbed by another person. Each child has a ball and dribbles in a designated area (the fewer the players the smaller the area). One player does not have a tail and for a certain period of time tries to grab the tails of the other players. The player who manages to grab the most tails wins.
  11. Free dribbling throughout the court and at the coach’s signal players must stop and turn towards a basket, the side- lines or the baseline (depending on the coach’s instruction). Coach can also indicate which foot the players are to pivot on and whether they should do a forward pivot or reverse pivot.
  12. “Dog and Hare Game”. Player are in two teams and each has a ball. One team are the “dogs” and they start in the centre circle. The other team (“hares”) may start anywhere on court. When the coach says go, the dogs dribble and must try to touch the hares. Those who are tagged must stop and sit. The player that manages to touch the most hares” in a fixed time period wins.
  1. “The Four Corners Game”. 4 Players stand in a corner of the half court holding a ball. One player is in the middle. When the coach says “go”, the players in the corners must sprint dribble to the next corner (the coach determines whether they move clockwise or counter-clockwise”). The Player in the middle tries to get to one corner, before the other player does. If they are successful, they now occupy the corner and the other player moves into the middle. This game can also be done running instead of dribbling.
  1. “The Fisherman Game”. One player stands at half court (“the fisherman”) and other players (“the fish”) stand on the baseline. When the coach says “go”, the “fish” must dribble and try to reach the other end of the court (beyond the end-line), without being tagged by the fishermen. Anyone tagged becomes a fisherman.
  2. As an alternative to activity 13, the player in the middle tries to “tag” one of the other players before they get to a corner. Players that are tagged, stop and stand in the place, waiting for another “corner player” to touch them and then they can both dribble to the corner. This works best with at least 9 players.
  3. “The Wolf and Sheep Game”. Every player has a ball. One player “the wolf” starts in the centre circle. The other players “the sheep” start in a keyway. When the coach says “The wolf isn´t here”, the “sheep” can move freely dribbling anywhere on court (they cannot stay in the keyway) The “wolf” can move too, but cannot touch the sheep. When the coach says “Here comes the wolf”, the wolf can touch any “sheep” that are outside of a keyway. Sheep who are touched outside of the circle become wolves and the game continues.
Alternatively, the child who is “It” must try to touch as many children as possible in a set period of time (e.g. 1 minute).
  1. “1-2-3 Stop”. Each player has a ball. One player stands at half court and the others stand behind the base line. The player at half-court faces away from the other players and calls out “1-2-3 Stop”. As they call “1”, players start to dribble toward the half way.
When they call “Stop”, the player at half way turns around and anyone they saw still moving must return to the baseline. The first to reach half-court without being seen by the child who is at half-court is the winner. The player in the middle may count as fast as they want, as long as they say each number out loud.
  1. “The Signal Game”. Players each have a ball and stand in a line facing the coach. Players dribble in the direction indicated by the coach.
  2. “Relay Dribbling Races”. There are many types of relays (forwards, forwards and backwards) without the ball (running, jumping), or dribbling, with one ball each or one ball per team. At a signal given by the coach, the first in line starts and follows the designated path (e.g. running around markers, on certain lines etc.). When the player returns to the line they touch the ball of the second in line and the game continues. The team which arrives first after having completed the path wins.
  3. “Relay Race with Pins”. Players are in two teams, with one ball per team. When the coach says go, the first player in line starts dribbling with one hand while with the other must try to knock down the pins along the path, and then return quickly by dribbling to let the second in line start. The second player starts to dribble and while dribbling with one hand must try to stand the pins up again (the game cannot continue if the pins are not standing) and so on.
 
  1. Dribble following the perimeter of the court and change direction, speed, hand, as indicated by the coach.
  2. Each player has a ball and they dribble around the court. When they are near another player they swap balls and then continue to dribble with the new ball. Players do not pick up the ball, they just take over dribbling the ball of the team mate. Progress to players doing this whilst dribbling two balls. It can also be done as a relay race between two or more teams.
  3. “Balance Ball”. Players hold one ball and try to balance a second ball on top of the ball. Once they can do this, they let go of the bottom ball, grab the top ball and use it to “catch” the other ball, balancing it on the ball they are now holding. Initially, they “catch” the ball after it hits the floor but progress to “catching” it without it hitting the floor.
  4. Place the players in groups of 3-5 along the baseline and set markers in the court at the two free throw lines and at half- court (other markers can be set in the court as well). On the coach’s signal, the first player in line starts dribbling. At each marker they do a designated skill, such as:
    • change hand;
    • retreat dribble;
    • change speed;
    • jump stop;
    • retreat dribble, change hand and dribble forward;
    • change direction.
Dribble Tag
Stationary Dribble
Dribble Chicken
Explosive Dribble
Stationary Dribbling 1 Ball
Stationary Dribbling 2 Ball
Partner Activities
Ball Control Activities